5 Takeaways from the Tampa Bay Lightning’s 7-1 Win Over the Philadelphia Flyers

The Tampa Bay Lightning went into the City of Brotherly Love and took care of business against the Philadelphia Flyers Sunday night. It was a 7-1 lopsided affair in favor of the Lightning and the Flyers never looked like they had a chance outside of a quick flurry of shots to open the first period proved fruitless.

Tampa scored six unanswered goals before the Flyers had their first goal on a power play around the midpoint of the third period. Mathieu Joseph scored in his first game back from injury, the rookies – Katchouk and Raddysh – each got a goal, and Corey Perry looks to have finally ran out of bad luck as he cashed in on two goals. Unlike last night, where it might have seemed like the Lightning stole one against the Boston Bruins, the Bolts had tonight’s game in hand for most of the night.

Here is some of the major talking points from tonight’s game:

1. Injury and Coach’s Decision Force Lineup Changes

The Lightning had a couple minor lineup changes for the game as a result of an injury and coach’s decision. Mathieu Joseph returned to the lineup after missing the previous three games due to injury, but it was Alex Barre-Boulet, not rookie Gabriel Fortier, who exited the lineup after Barre-Boulet was presumably benched for his role in the Boston Bruin’s second goal Saturday night.

Cal Foote found himself back in the starting lineup, filling in for an injured Erik Cernak, after sitting the past two games. Cernak blocked a shot in front of the net Saturday against the Bruins and was announced out on a day-to-day recovery timeline prior to tonight’s games.

2. Big Game for McDonagh

Ryan McDonagh is often an unsung hero for the Lightning on the blueline, so it is only right to give him the acknowledgement he deserves when he gets on the board multiple times in a game. McDonagh opened the scoring eight minutes into game after he carried the puck into the offensive zone, passing it off to Steven Stamkos to shoot the puck, and then following through to the front of the net to knock in the rebound for his second goal of the season.

McDonagh’s night would not stop there as he had the primary assist on Corey Perry’s first goal, the Lightning’s second, and another assist on Perry’s second, the Lightning’s seventh. McDonagh’s goal and two assists were good for his best scoring game of the season.

3. Boris Katchouk Scores First Goal

Fresh off longtime friend and linemate Taylor Raddysh scoring his first two goals, Boris Katchouk finally found the back of the net for his first in the NHL. Katchouk knocked in the puck right in front of the net after a point shot from Victor Hedman rebounded off the Flyers goaltender and was knocked free by Ross Colton in front of the net. It was not the most skilled goal, but Katchouk was in the right price at the right time to capitalize, and that sometimes is all it takes.

Katchouk joked after the game that he would have to make sure his longtime friend Taylor Raddysh knows it took six less games for him to record his first NHL goal. It is good to see a little friendly rivalry driving the two Lightning rookies to higher levels.

4. Getting the Monkey off Their Back

Corey Perry, Boris Katchouk, and Taylor Raddysh have looked great to begin the season, but were held 17, 15, and 21 games each, respectively, without their first goals of the season. The last couple of games have seen a major reversal in fortunes as Katchouk scored his first tonight, Raddysh scored in back-to-back games, and Perry has 5 goals in his last 7 games. The Lightning have been looking for scoring from their bottom six forwards all season, and it’s been a good sign to see all three of these players breakthrough.

5. Brian Elliott Almost Perfect

Brian Elliott was rock-solid in net for the Lightning tonight as he turned away all but one of the 39 shots he faced. The Flyers first came close to scoring on a deflection late in the second period that had originally gotten by him and cleared by Zach Bogosian, before the play was whistled dead for review. Video review showed the puck had crossed the goal line before Bogosian cleared it, but also showed that Scott Laughton had played the puck with an illegal high stick on the redirection.

The Flyers would eventually get one legally past Elliott in third period on a power play. Even though it was not a shutout, it was nevertheless a great performance for Elliott in net on the back-half of the weekend back-to-back after Vasilevskiy started Saturday against Boston.

The Tampa Bay Lightning will next faceoff against the Montreal Canadiens Tuesday night at 7pm EST.